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It’s a big week for restaurant openings on all sides of the Bay. While the Ritz-Carlton’s Parallel 37 opens today (more on that later) and the Tyler Florence-related Hawk’s Tavern is due tomorrow, Daniel Patterson is ready to unveil his Jack London Square restaurant, Haven.

Haven will open for dinner nightly on Wednesday evening, and at the helm is chef Kim Alter (ex-Plate Shop, Ubuntu).

For those unaware, Haven has been three years in the making. Patterson signed the lease for the Jack London Square project — originally named Bracina — in October 2008, before even Il Cane Rosso (which is now Lauren Kiino’s) and Plum were in the picture.

But this week, Haven finally touches down in Oakland.

The menu is still coming together, but it will be centered around shareable plates (a la family style, not tapas), and desserts-for-two from pastry chef Matt Tinder. As with Alter’s last stop at Plate Shop, she’ll be doing plenty of whole animal and whole vegetable cooking, like the Haven pop-ups. The menu will also include an option of “Let us cook for you,” which as Patterson describes it, won’t be a tasting menu, but rather, “it’ll be like getting a dinner you really want.” In other words, the diner will explain likes/dislikes/cravings, specify how many courses and then Alter will cook accordingly.

The space itself consists of 65 seats in the dining room and another 25 or so in the bar area. The cocktail list includes house cocktails and classic cocktails. And it’s Alter’s menu, as Patterson remains focused on his four-star Coi.

Not too long ago, Scoop chatted with Alter and Tinder (who is the pastry chef at all Patterson’s restaurants) as they were ramping up Haven.

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Scoop: What’s a day in the life like?

MT: I work at Coi a lot. I’m based out of here, but we’re always going back and forth. We’re getting used to how we’re not going to recycle anything from restaurant to restaurant, and making sure each restaurant has its own identity.

How does that interaction work?

KA: People are comparing the Haven food to Plum, and that’s not entirely accurate. I read something about where people are saying it’s like Plum, but it’s still me. It felt like a little bit of a dig, but it’s just that we all come from similar backgrounds, and if you look at everyone who comes from Manresa or Meadowood, in reality we have very similar ties.

At Haven, we’re definitely going to have our own identity, besides just family style. Between Matt’s desserts, the bread and what we’re doing in the wine program, it’ll be a lot different from Plum. The price point will be different, the vibe will be different.

When you look at the Oakland restaurants (Plum, Plum Bar and Haven), how do you see the identities?

KA: I see Plum as very vegetable driven and very local. At Haven, I don’t necessarily want to be tied down to just that. Like, I did scallops at one of the test dinners, and I’d like the option to do scallops in the future. If he wants to use some Asian ingredients, I think he should be able to use that. So I think that will be one thing that differentiates us from them.

And also, there will be family style plates. We’re going to be a bigger house. But I’m still using every single part of the animal, and every single part of the vegetable.

What’s the creative process like?

KA: Ron [Boyd] and I go back and forth with our recipes. I try something, he tries something. I think Matt has a very savory approach to desserts and we play off each other very well. I’m learning from him already.

What’s your interaction with Daniel?

KA: I see Daniel everyday. He’s very supportive and doesn’t want to change the direction we’re moving in unless he sees a problem. So far there hasn’t been a problem. [Laughs] It’s really nice. He puts a lot of faith in Ron, and Ron puts a lot of faith in me, so we all trust each other.

Matt, you’re doing bread?

MT: Yeah. We have this badass oven. It’s brick, electric and takes up a quarter of the line. It’s gonna be fun, and it’s something that will set us apart.

Any thoughts on Jack London Square?

KA: The other night, I went for a run from Plum to Jack London Square. My parents used to live a couple blocks away in the big brick lotfts, and it was always dead, but I see way more people around there nowadays. So I think it’s building up, and when the farmers’ market is in there, I think it’s going to be really great. It’ll bring a lot of people in, and I hope people will want to come to Oakland.